Consistency and range are two of thr greatest assets an artist can possess. Without the ability to reliably produce quality, an artist will quickly find themselves unemployed. While not as vital to sustaining a career, range shows the breadth of an artist's creativity. As a result, aside from technical proficiency, the artistic range of a filmmaker is one of the essential traits I look for in auteurs. While there's definitely some merit in an artist staying in their proverbial lane, I value filmmakers with uncanny levels of versatility, and Guillermo Del Toro is one of the most flexible directors out there when it comes to modern Hollywood.
Granted, most of Del Toro's films are creature features, but the variety of genres he explores with his monsters is what I find so compelling about his catalog. Pacific Rim, The Shape of Water, and Pan's Labyrinth are all monster films in some respect, but the genres they inhabit are drastically different. In the video linked above, the YouTuber Kaptain Kristan talks about the monsters that populate Del Toro's filmography.
